Opinions about University of Teesside,UK
Hey guys,
Can someone plz provide me some feedbacks about Teesside University, UK.
I'm planning to do MA in Game Art & I've gone through their course modules & it's very close to what I wanted. However, the feedbacks that I've got about the university so far has been mixed.
It would be nice if someone who has studied/studying at teesside give their opinions about the university.
Also, are there any other good Universities that has a masters degree in game art??
Can someone plz provide me some feedbacks about Teesside University, UK.
I'm planning to do MA in Game Art & I've gone through their course modules & it's very close to what I wanted. However, the feedbacks that I've got about the university so far has been mixed.
It would be nice if someone who has studied/studying at teesside give their opinions about the university.
Also, are there any other good Universities that has a masters degree in game art??
Replies
So, am really not sure if that would be an option for me.
I've currently short listed Teesside & Hertfordshire..Just not sure which one among them is better.
However, I found Teesside to be offering more specialized courses.
From what i've seen it's brilliant.
I've also sent him a mail, awaiting his reply..:)
Ah, I wouldn't know about the masters. I heard that their masters was basically supposed to be 4 Dare to be Digitals in a year, i.e. you work in a team to create 4 working prototypes. Not sure if it was 4, but I'm pretty sure it was.
If you are looking into Animation I cannot recommend Teesside enough as its the place to be for that subject (both 2D and 3D). But I've been really impressed with the work Hertfordshire, but then again they are only going to be posting the top students projects aren't they (yes I know Teesside will be doing the same as well :P).
I did the straight out Games Art course and to be honest, I loved it. However as with any course, you can't expect them to teach you everything and then land a job at the end. You'll have to put in extra effort and self teach yourself certain things.
Also I must admit, I did a years work experience at Eutechnyx, where I currently work, and I learnt more in that 1 year than I did in the previous 2 years at Uni
Finally its been 4 years now since I graduated and at the time they weren't teaching any free SDK's such as UDK or CryEngine, really hope this has changed now.
I guess both the universities are good when it comes to Game Art, Herts has a better ranking than Teesside on the university league tables & Teesside has got specialization modules, which I liked..I guess it's a matter of choice
@Di$array Did you do your MA in game art at teesside? If yes, what was your specialization?
@Grimmstrom I believe they are teaching UDK now, atleast for MA.
I'd also like to ask you guys about the place. Since I'm an international student & never been to UK so far, It would be nice if someone could share some info about the place.
Middlesbrough or Hatfield? which one would be a better place for an international student?
Can someone provide me with some info on Middlesbrough & Hatfield??
As for the University I went to Teesside.... 3 or 4 years ago... can't remember... At that point the Univercity was in a bit of a state, the course was way behind the times and a lot of people complained.
But, the people running the course listened and slowly but surely they have restructured and reformed the whole course (I think this is where a lot of the mixed messages come from Teesside).
Another bonus to think about with Teesside is its literally the cheapest place to live in the UK, you get a lot of international students there and some great nights out, on the cheap :P Considering how much Univercity costs these days its probably a major bonus. As for Teesside itself, its a bit of a dogs arse. But I never had any trouble apart from the odd chav being a dickhead.
The facility's where being completely rebuilt when I was there and luckily where open for my final year with xeon 8 core PC's and 8800's (take into account this was 3-4 years ago)
Also one last thing, when at University you will see a lot of people doing nothing, waiting until the last minute to hand in there work or generally just being idiots treating the whole thing like high school. Just remember your spending like £8000 a year to go there. Don't waste your money. There is a balance between enjoying yourself while at the same time staying on top of your work. Its about being consistent in small dosages.
firstly for game art the course i took.. the first year if you already know the basics is a throw away, you might pick up a few tricks but nothing special... the second year you'll have a environment, character and mechanical module at the start of the year a long with a art class. then in the second half of the year you work on a game with the whole year... sounds fun but was a huge headache ( we were the experiment year for this project and things weren't so smooth, but seem to have went alil better this year) third year is mostly your final project which can be pretty much anything you want to make, split with a group project where you make a game, also you'll have another art class and theory stuff..
for me i felt that there wasn't enough staff for the amount of students there, and alot of the students didn't really have a clue, definatley was a huge gap between the people that knew what they were doing and the people that would stay up all night playing wow a day before a team presentation that the rest of the team where working all night on... THX!... i'am not bitter!! lol..
if i had moved down there i would probably had more fun with the course but kinda happy to be over it..
the staff mostly know what there doing and are helpful when they have the time. the facilities are pretty nice, max, maya, mudbox, photoshop, udk etc... but with the amount of students you can find it hard to grab a computer some times.
kind of a negative review but most of the things i picked out are probably the same for other places, that and i guess i was expecting alil more for the money.
i think aslong as your willing to put in the time, work that lil extra bit harder and teach yourself it shouldn't really matter where you go...
I went to Abertay and felt that the opportunities made available to me were really good in terms of networking and working in teams. Although I never did the Masters degree, it is basically working in teams on 3 games. You start by working with 1-2 people then it scales up to as many as 10; eventually working like a small games company. The employment rate is pretty high with past Masters students now working at companies in the UK such as Blitz Games, Codemasters, Sony and Traveller's Tales. The Undergraduate courses from the Art side of things have a much lower employment rate but I think this is quite common across the UK. The advantage of Abertay is that it's in Dundee which is a super cheap place to stay and it's pretty welcoming of people of all backgrounds
As with most universities you'll find that people will have mixed views on their experience. My advice would be to look at the coursework / course contents and see if they are suited to what you want to do with your career. After that, consider the following: What do you need the degree for? Could you learn the same stuff in your own time? What are the facilities like? How many students are on the course? Does the university have strong ties to the industry? Is it easy to form teams? How many past students have found employment?
Like people said above, if you're willing to put the effort in then it doesn't really matter if you have a degree or not and it matters even less where the degree is from. If you're talented then you'll get a job. If you're from outside of the UK (and there aren't any games companies in your area) and a Masters degree is an option - then go for it!
So I guess it all boils down to how much of additional effort we put in during our spare time. BTW, I got a call from one of the Teesside guys a few days back & he was really friendly & cleared most of my doubts I had about the university.
I still have one doubt however (just didn't think about this when I spoke to him), why is it that the course starting in Feb is 16 months while the one starting in September is a year?
I did the MA games art (environment) course at Teesside a few years back and I can say that the Uni has great facilities including a 24 hour lab specifically for master students which has everything you need to work. There is also a huge number of international students at the uni and theres an internation society as well to help you fit in. As far as the teaching goes it is very much focused on self learning. Don't expect to be taken by the hand. This is the main problem with Teesside, the tutors, at least when I was there, are of varying skill (to be polite about it) And as for the area, Middlesbrough is small, has all the amenities you'd need and it is cheap to live there. It isn't without problems tho and has (or had at least when I was there) a bit of a crime problem. I got burgled while I was there but that could happen anywhere really. Hope that helps!
I have plans of taking up environment myself. As far as the teaching goes, I guess it's the same in most if not all of the universities, it's more of an individual effort.
Well, I've heard from quite a few people that Middlesbrough is known for it's high crime rate & that's what worries me
The Nightlife in Middlesbrough is pretty vibrant, there is something for everyone
It's good to know that people from Teesside are working in some of the top studios. I still have one question unanswered. Why is it that the MA course starting in Feb is 15 months while the one starting in Sep is only a year?? I mean, why is that 3 months difference even though it's the same course?
Anyone??
That is the Master's Course. Which you can enroll on once you've completed your graduate degree rags.
Like most on the past page I have mixed feeling about the course as I attended it during the experimental phase when they where restructing the course. It was a bit of a nightmare but I can imagine the final outcome of the course will be solid and well rounded. I believe they are starting the group project a year early now rather than leaving it to the final year. Which I believe will pay off in the long run.
The course is under staffed (Well at least when I was there) but they do have some outstanding tutors (Tim and Dave) that will always have time for you to answer any question or address any problem you might be having with the course.
Night life is like any night life in the North, friendly, cheap and loud. But I'd recommend having some ID on you as you'll practically be asked at the door of every nightclub (and I don't look young for my age. I'm a right hairy beast). Also getting around Middlesbrough (or the Boro) is fine as boro taxi charages you £2.40 to go anywhere within Middlesbrough. But as with any place in the world it has it's good and bad places. You'll get a feel of the place when you are there and where you should go and where you shouldn't.
I'll post more soon but I need to get ready to go out.
As for the university itself it has superb facilities. It has a nice amount of computer labs with ace computers, all with dual screens and Max, Maya, Photoshop, Mudbox (not ZBrush, unfortunately). Everyone is really helpful, the labs are a great place to get advice and feedback.
There are upsides and downsides to every course, but it will definitely push you in the right direction. If you want more information on the course I'm sure they'd be happy to provide you with an email of the tutor in charge who could tell you more.
The students are the uni are pretty awesome as well.
As for the crime rate, it is high and some of people in the area are not pleasant to be around, but the majority are fine. You just have to avoid the bad areas (crescent road is one). Nightlife is pretty good as well.
Some people have mixed feelings about the course, however i know it changed quite alot the year i started so i imagine they where on the old course(s). If you want to know more just pm me